KATHERINE BLACK - PART 4

[ OF LOVE AND SILHOUETTE ]

Thursday, 1st March 2018.

I woke up this morning happily. I rolled in the bed a few times before going to the bathroom. I took a quick hot shower before walking to my wardrobe. I picked a black slim fit jeans with a white long blouse and a pair of black Chelsea. I walked to the mirror to check myself before grabbing my bag, the pouch one. I didn’t bother to put a makeup because I love something natural. I hate cake face. Walking down the stairs and entered the kitchen, I saw mom put a plate of pancake on the table. And dad was sitting on the table while sipping his coffee. His eyes focused on his phone. Mom looked at me and smiled.

“Hey honey.” Mom is a sweet and kind woman. She has never left the family behind even she’s really busy with her job. By the way, mom is a doctor.

“Hi mom, hi dad.” I greeted them and kissed their cheeks.

“Good morning my little princess.” Dad said to me with a smile.

“Hey, I am not a kid anymore. I am a grown up woman you know.” They laughed.

“Yes you are. But you still my little princess.” Dad said and kissed my cheek.

“Our little princess.” Mom corrected dad. I giggled. Mom gave me a plate of soft pancake with honey and strawberry on top and a cup of latte, my favourite. I ate while talking to them.

“I need to go now. Or I will be late.” Dad said. He stood up and gave us a kiss on cheek before disappeared behind the double door. He is a successful businessman. He has a big company with his name on it. He is the chairman. He had asked me if I wanted to join him in business as he wanted me to take over his position. But I refused. Business is not my forte’. Hence, I chose to become a detective because I love riddle plus adventurous things.

“Aren’t you working, today”?” I asked mom while finishing my plate.

“No. I don’t. I’m on my day off.” She said while sitting beside me with her tea. She is not a coffee person. I nodded.

Pinnn!

“I’m sure he’s outside now.” I said, walking to the sink and washed my plate and cup. My mom giggled.

“I will cook special dinner today. Ask him to join us.” Mom said and sent me to the door.

“Sure.” I replied and walked to the car. Carl rolled down the window.

“Good morning Mrs Black.” He yelled from the car. My mom smiled warmly and greeted him back. I got into the car. We waved a good bye to my mom and he drove down the street.

“Mom asked you to join us for dinner tonight.” I said and looked at him. He grinned widely.

“Sure. I love your mom’s cooking.”

“Then, don’t be late. Or I will not allow you to come in then you will share your dinner with Mushi.” I said narrowing my eyes to him. I warned him. Sometimes he will be late especially when we have an important event. Actually most of time. Last time, he was late for our date. I waited for almost an hour. I had no idea what made him so late. Oh ya! Mushi is my cute dog.

“Hahaha. I hope Mushi’s food taste great.” He chuckled. I rolled my eyes.  Suddenly my phone rang. I slowed down the volume of the radio then answered the call.

“Yes. What? Oh really? Where? Okay I will be there right now.” I ended the call. I looked at Carl with a mix feeling. I was shocked because it has been a month he didn’t show up. Today, he came back with a new victim. I was glad because this is my first case.

“We must go to the 1435 Ranch Street. Now.” I commanded him. He turned the car to the place.

“What happen, babe?” he asked without looking at me. He focused on the road.

“The Devil showed up after a long hibernation.” I said and smirked. He frowned while looking at my reaction.

“This time I won’t let him go.” I was confident.

After a few minutes, we arrived at the place. I got off the car quickly. I walked as fast as I could across the crowd. Everyone there was curious and wanted to know what exactly had happened here. I walked past the caution yellow and black tape. Carl walked behind me. I saw the victim was covered with white cloth and there was a pool of blood around him. I walked to one of the officers that stood nearby. He was almost 40. He faced us and bowed slightly. I nodded.

“Miss Black, here’s the report” the man gave me a file. I took the file. I opened it and read the first page and before I finished the page, he said,

“His name is John Bedrick. He got a lot of enemies. He’s a drunk, has a lot of debt and he loves to start a fight. But from the investigation, The Devil is the one who had killed him.” He explained. I looked at him. I frowned. 1001 questions were In my mind. If he was the one who started the fire, he would be insane. Messing up with The Devil was something dangerous. Extremely dangerous. Still, it’s too early to judge. The case was still under investigation.

“Yes. It’s the same. Similar way of death. His tongue got cut and had stabson heart, lung and abdomen, also almost half of his body got slice opened.” He continued. I looked at the victim. I walked closed to him. I held the top of the white cloth and pulled down slowly to see his face. The cloth dropped until his waist. I could see his body was sliced open. I winced. It was the man from the last night!! I dropped the cloth and stepped back. The officer looked at me.

“You know him?” he asked while pulling back the cloth to cover his face.

“I am sorry. I was shocked. I never see something...I mean someone like this before.” I apologised.

“It’s okay, you are too young to face things like this.” He said and patted my back.

“Did you know him?” he asked again. I took a deep breath before answered.

“Yes. He messes up with us last night in the front of restaurant. I cursed him badly last night. But I did not expect something like this will happen.” I told him the incident that night. I didn’t know why but I felt bad for him.

“It’s okay, not your fault.” He tried to calm me down.

“Thank you.”

“You have anything else? If not, I want to go to station to report the case. If you need anything, just inform me.” I asked the officer. He shook his head. Then we went back to the car and to the station. In the car we didn’t talk much. I sank in my own thought.

Upon finishing all the report, Carl sent me home. It was almost 5. He told me he would be back at 7 for dinner. I thanked him and saw him drove his way home. Then I walked past the strong double door. The old kind maid greeted me. She was around 50 now. She’s so kind and warm. She worked with us since my mom and dad got marriage and moved here. Mom and she were really close like a best friend. Nope, I think more than that, they are like a sister. And she’s like my aunt. I really love her and we are quite close too. She is my babysitter.

“Welcome home. How was your day?” She smiled at me.

“Thank you Linda. A little tired because I got a new case today. A bad case.” I told him and took a heavy breath.

“Oh, I’m sorry honey. I hope you are okay. Do you need something? I can make you anything.” She was really concerned.

“It’s okay Linda. Don’t worry, I’m fine. Thanks for your offer.” I gave her a warm smile.

“How was your day, Linda?”

“Like usual. Do nothing much and just little tired. You know I’m an old woman now. ” She grinned. I gave a look at her.

“I think you need some rest. I will talk to mom about this later.”

“No need honey, I’m just okay. Even I’m old but I’m still strong.” She said, regret that what she had say just now.

“No, that’s not okay for me. If something happens to you I will not forgive myself.” I hugged her. She hugged me back.

“Can you tell mom that I will help her after I take a shower?.” She nodded. Then I climbed the stair to my room. After I took a warm shower, I walked to my walk in wardrobe. I grabbed my soft pink maxi dress. Then I walked off my room and went to kitchen. I saw mom and Linda were talking and laughed. They looked happy.

“What did I miss?” I said and bumped into them. They were shocked. Mom almost threw the mug that she hold to me. I laughed at her reaction. Linda tried to hide her smile.

“Can’t you just greet or something? I was shocked you know….” She narrowed her eyes to me. I grinned.

“I’m sorry…” I apologised and blinked my eyes like a 5 years old kid. Linda chuckled at me and mom shook her head.

“So, what do we want to cook for dinner?” I asked and looked at the island table which full with of raw food. There were meat, potatoes, bacons, French breads, chicken spies, vegetables, fruits and dough. I was stunned!. That was too much. They looked at each other and looked back at me with a grin on their faces.

“We will teach you how to cook today.” Mom said.

“We will cook meatloaf, ginger bread, grilled potatoes, mix fruit salad, chicken and apple pie.” Linda told me. I frowned.

“But are they too many ingredients? It’s only five of us, why do you serve for like a dozen people?” I asked. Confused.

None of them bothered to answer me. Then we started dancing around the kitchen while cooking the dishes. After a few hours we finished. We served at the big and long dining table. Linda set the plates and glass for a dozen people. I shook my head. I looked at my watch. It was 7p.m. I walked to the door. I waited for Carl. After 30 minutes, his car stopped in front of me. He smiled at me. He got off the car with a rose in his hand. I raised my eyebrows. Twist my hand on my chest.

“You are late.” He walked to me and kissed my cheek.

“I am sorry baby. That is…” I cut him off.

“What? Your neighbour’s cousin aunt dies? So you must go to the funeral first?” I said in sarcastic.

“How can you know that? Are you a mind reader?” he joked. I gave him a look. Then I walked in and closed the door. Before I closed it, he held the door. I was annoyed.

“I’m sorry babe.” He made puppy face. Then he gave a red rose to me. Before I could say anything, mom stood behind me.

“Oh Carl, come in. why don’t you welcome him, honey?” I sighed and walked to side, gave him a space to open the door. He grinned and walked in like an innocent kid. Then I walked to the kitchen, with him following behind me.

I saw everyone was here including Carl. I took a seat right in front of my dad who was sitting at the head of the table. Mom was sitting beside dad and Linda was on her left. Yeah. She always joins our dinner. Carl took a seat beside me. I saw the flower on his top pocket. I didn’t bother to ask him about that because I was still mad.

“You know what, I still wonder why do we have many plates here? We are only… Five?” I said, looking at the unnecessary plates. “But you know what, I don’t care. Let’s eat now. I’m hungry.” I was about to put the meatloaf on my plate but dad cut me off.

“We can’t start eating before everyone is here.” He said and looked at me with a smile. I growled.

“Then, just tell me who are we waiting?” I asked. I couldn’t wait anymore. Everyone grinned and it made me annoyed.

“Ohhh… but, I’m hungry… please… or you will see me dying here starving.” I whined, looked at them one by one with a sympathy look. They just gave me a smile while Carl giggled at my five-year-old temperament. I glared at him. He stopped giggling.

“Honey, can you pass me a spoon?” she asked and pointing at the salad. I growled. I wanted to eat. Without any complaint, I stood up and walked to the kitchen. After I took the spoon in the cabinet, I walked back to the dining room but before I reached there, suddenly it was black out. Sighed. Just great. I walked slowly to them. Then I saw a dim light at the dining room. I walked closer and carefully. Oh my god. I dropped the spoon on the floor. I covered my mouth with my hands, I was shocked.

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Katherine, Happy Birthday to you~~!” ~

Everyone was singing me the birthday song. Mom and dad hugged me. I cried. Yeah I’m a bit little sensitive person. How can I forget my special day!

“We have a surprise to you.” Mom pointed to the group in front of me. My eyesight was blurred because there were just some candles on the cake that light the room. When the lights were switched on, my jaw dropped on the floor. I felt like my lung jumped out of my body. In a minute, I ran to them and hugged them tightly. They weremy uncle and aunty with their two kids, Leo and Alice. They hugged me back.

“Oh my god, when did you arrive? Why don’t you tell me that you wanna come? Are you staying here? How long? Oh… I really miss you guys.” I asked in one breath, I pulled back and caught back my breath.

“We miss you too. Yes, we’re staying here for a few days or maybe a week.” My aunt answered. They had move to California two years ago and since then, we didn’t meet. We were too busy with our own business. My uncle, Tom was running a business himself like my dad. Her wife, Amanda is his assistant. They work together, together with Leo. He is older than me by 2 years, so he 26 this year. But, Alice is still studying. She’s now 18 years old. If I’m not mistaken, she studies business too. What can I say, they are a family of business. Leo and I are so close. We grew up together. He’s like my own brother.

“If we told you it will not be a surprise.” Leo said and patted my arm. I sent him a grin.

 “We arrived when you were acting like a five-year-old kid who’s whining for food. And guess what, I had recorded every single moment” Alice said and showed her camera.

“Hey, that’s not fair.” I tried to grab the camera, she dodged. I almost fell on my ass but Leo pulled my arm. She still recorded me. “That’s enough Alice.” I pouted.

“Nope. Until the party ends. I’m really excited to show it your son or daughter about their immature mom.” She laughed evilly. She brought the camera and recorded the others. I gave a dead glance to her. She fluttered her tongue. Everyone laughed at us. We love to fight and she is like my little sister.

“The world never fairs princess.” Leo said. I hate it when everyone said the word ‘princess’ to me. It’s like I’m a weak and spoiled.

Laugh echoes in every room of the house. We shared our childhood stories, recalling the old memories. Of course I was blushing went they talked about my silly childhood. That night was full of laughter and joy. Luckily, I didn’t forget to introduce Carl to them. I was relieved that they like Carl too.

About presents, of course every single person here had prepared their present to me. I got a lot of ‘expensive’ present from them. Mom gave me a beautiful and limited edition rose gold necklace. I love rose gold. Dad gave me a recent released phone. He knew that my phone was outdated. I used it since I was 13 and never changed it. I love it because it was my first phone that I bought myself. Of course it was my dad’s money, but I chose it myself. 

My uncle gave me a new laptop and my aunt gave me a beautiful channel dark blue dress. I got a new edition supreme white shoes from Alice and a set of mystery novel from Leo with the writer’s autograph on it. Guess what, it was a new edition too. It’s one of my favourite writer collections. 

Not to forget, Linda made me a baby grey knitting sweater. I love it. I thanked them. I never asked them to give me all of things like that, but who don’t like present, right? So I received it with full of my heart.

After hours, Carl excused himself. He wanted to go home. It’s almost 12. I sent him to his car. We walked in silence.

“Hey, are you still mad at me? Okay I’m sorry. I promise I will never ever late again.” He asked when we stopped next to his car. I don’t look at him. He pulled my both arms to make me face him. He pulled out the rose from her upper pocket and hand me the rose. I raised an eyebrow to him, my arm crossed.

“Don’t you know that I’m allergic to flower?” I gave him a look.

“Yes, I do.”

“Then. Why do you bring that rose? Do you want to kill me or what?” I said, stone cold.

“Wow. Chill babe. Yes I know you are allergic with flower so that’s why I bring you a fake flower. I want to look romantic with it, so I bring you the fake rose. And don’t worry I used my own perfume on it.” I took the rose and brought to my nose. It smelled good, like him. I looked up at him and cleared my throat.

“Ehm… thanks, for the rose.” I put down the rose and looked at him. I tried to be serious.

“That’s not the real present. This is the real present.” He handed me a mini black box that he took out from his pocket. I took it.

“What is it?” I frowned while examining the box.

“Opened it.”

Carefully, I opened the box. It was a beautiful rose gold bracelet written ‘MINE’ on it, in beautiful calligraphy. I smiled at him.

“You know, I write it myself.” He said proudly.

“I don’t know you are good at art especially in calligraphy.”

I looked carefully at the word. It’s really beautiful. He then placed the bracelet at my neck.

“With this you will always remember me and it shows that you just belong to me.” I hugged him.

~to be continued~

By: The Owl/2020